


(my hands, your hands) tied up like two ships

by goodandsafe



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Human Carmilla Karnstein, POV Third Person, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon!AU, more characters to be added as we go on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:50:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12847311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodandsafe/pseuds/goodandsafe
Summary: when laura hollis comes across a fellow pokémon trainer in distress, she has a civic responsibility to provide aid. she never imagined the brief encounter would transform this beautiful stranger into her traveling companion… or more.or, the hollstein pokémon AU no one asked for that i couldn’t get out of my head.





	(my hands, your hands) tied up like two ships

**Author's Note:**

> big thx to fox and oak for proofreading this for me! (why do all my friends have nature-related names/nicknames)
> 
> enjoy! xo

Laura Hollis prides herself on being a fair and balanced Pokémon trainer. She owes it to her father, who always taught and reminded her the importance of being a responsible and kind, but firm Pokémon trainer, and that responsibility and kindness, Sherman said, was to extend to her fellow trainers.

“ _If you can’t count on each other for support out there_ ,” he always said, “ _the art of_ _Pokémon_ _training has lost its heart, its meaning_.”

That’s why when Hercules, Laura’s Machoke, insists on pulling her off the well-trodden path and through the thick trees of the Ilex Forest, Laura trusts that he has good reason to do so. Once he realizes that Laura isn’t resisting, he lets go of her small hand and forges ahead, breaking apart the smaller trees that stand in the way of whatever it is he’s looking for.

“Herc, wait up!” Laura says.

If he hears her, he doesn’t acknowledge her, and Laura’s gait increases to a light jog to keep up with the hulking Pokémon. Finally, the trees break and Laura halts at the treeline while Herc slows to a calm walk ahead of her. Laura scans the small, open field in front of her. The first thing she notices is a jet black backpack resting close to her feet. The next thing she notices is a voice, soft and sweet, singing. Though it sounds awfully far away, Laura realizes that must be what drew her Machoke in this direction. Hercules is now standing atop a knoll, looking down at something. Laura takes twenty paces and all the pieces click together.

They’re standing on the lip of a small but deep, circular pit and at the bottom sits a small-framed woman with black hair. She’s holding a Growlithe close to her chest, singing softly and soothingly to it.

Laura puts the back of her hand on Hercules’ chest and pushes gently.

“Hang back for a minute, pal,” she whispers.

He obliges and takes three big steps backward.

“Uh,” she calls down, “hey.”

The woman abruptly stops singing and her head snaps upward. Laura can see her squinting against the late afternoon sun. The Growlithe turns tries to follow suit and pushes itself up on wobbly legs before the woman mutters something to it and it curls back into her.

“At the risk of sounding like a buffoon,” Laura says, “are you okay? Like… what’s the story here.”

“You’re the first human being I’ve seen in,” she looks at her watch, “six whole hours, so I’m going to refrain from affirming that you _are_ a buffoon and ask that you help me figure out how to get out of this literal hell hole.”

“Rude,” Laura mutters and then, louder, “I’m assuming you can’t climb?”

“Not at the moment, no. I landed wrong and fucked up an ankle. And then I tried to climb and fucked it up some more.”

“Ah, okay. Just a mo’.”

Laura slings her pack off her shoulders, unzips it, and begins to rummage through one of the pockets.

“A-ha!” she exclaims, holding the climbing cord aloft.

“Care to share with the class?” the tired woman asks.

“We can use this to make a kind of pulley for you. I’ll tie a… hmm… a Cerulean bowline knot! Yeah, I can make you a makeshift Bosun’s chair and Hercules will pull you up.”

“Who’ll what now?”

Laura turns and calls for her Machoke, who comes forward, peers down at the woman, and says, “Muh!”

“...Right,” the woman says. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Laura threads the cord through her own belt loops, ties a quick knot, and hands the opposite end to Hercules.

“On my word, pull her up. Carefully.”

“Choke!” he says with a nod.

“Okay, lower me. As gently as possible, so as to avoid an irreversible wedgie.”

Herc does an Laura reaches the bottom of the twenty-five foot pit. She pulls the rope out of her belt loop and then holds her hand out to the still-seated woman.

“I’m Laura, by the way.”

As she extends her hand, the very weak Growlithe finds the strength to growl at her. Laura drops her hand.

“Valia,” the woman says sternly. “She’s here to help.”

The Growlithe, Valia, drops down again and the woman runs her hands through the Pokémon’s orange fur.

“Carmilla, and this is Valia. She’s rather protective.”

“And rather injured, it seems.”

Carmilla nods.

“All my Pokémon but Valia have fainted and my pack with all my potions is up there. She refused to get back in her ball and rest, though, when she realized our predicament.”

“Do you mind my asking how you got down here?” Laura asks, sitting opposite Carmilla, legs crossed.

Carmilla acquiesces while coaxing Valia into her pokéball.

“Some numbskull challenged me to a battle and his party was _much_ stronger than I anticipated. We had each other on the ropes and when I finally - _finally_ \- had his sixth and final pokémon down for the count, he pulled a seventh pokémon from his pocket, loosed a Dugtrio, and it burrowed. It all happened so fast, honestly, and all the sudden, Valia and I were falling. I hit the ground wrong and felt something snap when I rolled my ankle and Valia took a lot of damage in the fall on top of the damage she sustained in the battle. She’ll be okay, but we’ve been down here for a long-ass time.

“Let’s get you both out of here, then,” Laura says, pushing herself to her feet.

Carmilla secures Valia’s pokéball to her belt and holds her hand out. Laura takes it and pulls the woman to her feet, doing most of the work.

When Carmilla is on her feet, she doesn’t let go of Laura’s hand right away and Laura smiles at her before holding up the cord with her free hand and saying, “Mind if I tie you up?”

Carmilla rolls her eyes, drops Laura’s hand, and says, “Be my guest.”

Laura nimbly creates the knot that’ll act as a pseudo-harness for Carmilla and she thinks of the first time she tied this knot successfully. Her dad has always been rather… keen about survival and self-defense, so in addition to his lessons about the world of Pokémon, her dad also ensured that Laura learned everything there was to learn about personal protection. That includes having every single Pokémart in Kanto and Johto having a package of his patented Ursaring Spray set aside for Laura at all times because “ _it’s far more effective than that Repel garbage they’re peddling for twice the price!_ ”

Carmilla watched Laura’s fingers and face move as she works on the knot, annoying herself with the way that she finds Laura’s furrowed brow, well, _adorable_. She’s happy for the distraction, though, as her right foot is throbbing in pain, even as she takes of her weight off it and leans against the wall of the pit. Once Laura is content with the Cerulean bowline she’s created, she helps Carmilla step into it and tightens each loop securely around the top of each of Carmilla’s thighs, just where they meet her shapely ass.

Laura has to shake herself back into focus at that thought. She’s here for a rescue, not to ogle a stranded, injured trainer.

“Herc, a half-pull!”

The Machoke follows Laura’s order and Carmilla is lifted a foot or so off the ground. She suppresses a surprised squeak and Laura quickly apologizes.

“Shoulda warned you.”

Carmilla shakes her head and then nods down at her lap.

“This is surprisingly comfortable.”

“Good,” Laura says. “Okay, so just let your legs dangle and hold tight to the rope in front of you to stay upright. Wait! Let me wrap your ankle.”

“With wha-”

Carmilla is silenced by the sound of Laura ripping the sleeves from her sweater. Seemingly unaware of Carmilla’s surprise and reddening cheeks, Laura uses the sleeves to create a temporary brace around Carmilla’s foot and ankle.

“Okay, hold tight,” she says, patting Carmilla’s knee. “Herc, pull her up!”

Within a few minutes, Carmilla is up at the top of the pit, left foot firmly planted on the ground besides Laura’s Machoke, whom Carmilla lightly punches on the shoulder in thanks. He notices her injured foot as Carmilla shimmies out of the rope and tosses it down to Laura, so when she’s no longer occupied, he scoops her up in one of his arms.

“Put me down!” Carmilla insists.

Laura, who quickly secures the rope to her own body, calls up, “Just go with it, Carm. Herc is a natural caretaker.”

Hercules pulls Laura up even quicker than he’d pulled Carmilla up and when Laura can see her in direct sunlight, she can see how roughed up Carmilla really is. Her clothes are dirty from the pit, but what really catches Laura’s eye is how utterly exhausted the woman looks.

“Alright, we better get back to Azalea to heal up your Pokémon and then we’ll file a report about the attack.”

“Whoa, cupcake, slow down. This absurdity isn’t report-worthy.”

“Sure it is!” Laura exclaims. “Whoever did this totally disregarded the laws of the land! The authorities should be aware.”

“Let’s get my party healed and then we’ll talk about it, since this is apparently a ‘we’ now.”

Sensing that the conversation is done for now, Hercules shifts Carmilla so that she’s slung over his shoulder, fireman carry style. He heads back toward the trees through which he and Laura came, picking up Carmilla’s pack as he goes, and before Laura catches up with him, she’s able to see Carmilla’s absolutely endearing frown that appeared as a result of being carried.

Laura tries to make small talk along the way, but Carmilla isn’t quite in the mood for conversation, so Laura lets her be until they reach the Pokémon Center in Azalea Town, just south of the Ilex Forest. Hercules doesn’t put Carmilla down until they reach the front desk and even then, he stands protectively behind her. Laura can’t help but smile at the way he’s taken to this complete stranger; he _has_ always been a wonderful judge of character.

Carmilla briefly explains the situation and then hands her pokéballs over to the nurse on duty.

“This won’t take long,” she says gently. “I’ll let you know when they’re ready or if we run into any issues. You can all take a seat just over there.”

“Wait,” Laura interjects. “We need to file a report with the police. Do you know how we might be able to do that?”

The nurse, Joyce, nods to the staircase adjacent to the front desk.

“There’s an officer on duty upstairs.”

“Thanks,” Laura says before turning to Hercules, taking Carmilla’s pack from him. “You’ve gotta get back in your ball for now, okay?”

The Machoke grunts and doesn’t fight it when Laura holds out his pokéball. Once he’s in, Laura secures the ball to her belt and hands Carmilla her pack.

“Where’s my - is this all he picked up?”

“This is all there was…,” Laura says, confused.

“That fucknut stole my bedroll!” she says, slamming a fist on the desk. She snatches the bag from Laura, places it on the desk, and starts rooting through it. After twenty seconds or so, her shoulders fall.

“Is… everything okay?” Laura asks.

“He took all my money. All of it.”

She sounds small - dejected, even - and Laura’s chest clenches. Very quickly, though, Carmilla’s tone grows harsh.

“That shitstick is going to _pay_ ,” she says, marching toward the staircase, pain in her ankle temporarily forgotten.

Laura doesn’t know what to do other than follow so she catches up with Carmilla, whose army boots fall heavily and with purpose. They reach the second floor and a few feet away is a door marked “Police Station.”

Carmilla pushes through, holding the door long enough for Laura to pass through, and says, “We need to file a report.”

Carmilla recounts everything that happened, describes the perpetrator, and lists everything that’s missing from her pack. Laura corroborates the story, adding details that Carmilla couldn’t have, given her position from down in the pit.

“No one else could have everything you’ve reported stolen?” the officer asks as she takes notes on a pad of yellow paper.

“No,” Carmilla says evenly. “The only person I saw or heard nearby after the battle was this cutie here, and she’s the one who helped me out of there.”

“Alright, let me check on something.”

The officer walks back to the computer terminal in the corner and presumably enters the information Carmilla and Laura relayed to her. She returns within five minutes, with an angered look on her face.

“Your report matches ones given at Pokémon Centers and police stations all over Johto. I’ll have to call my counterparts in the Kanto region to see if they’ve had any similar reports there.”

“Wait, you’re telling me that this asshat does done the same thing to other people?”

“At least forty, by my estimation,” the officer nods.

“That’s… that’s… that totally goes against everything a pokémon trainer is meant to stand for!” Laura says.

“Not everyone is as steadfast as you, cupcake. Still, this douchenozzle has created an entirely new level of Fucked Up.”

“We have to find him.”

“That’s what the police are for,” Carmilla says, motioning to the officer behind the desk.

“You said yourself that he was gonna pay, Carm! Wouldn’t it feel, just, _incredible_ to be a part of stopping a force of malevolence?”

Carmilla heaves a sigh.

“Something tells me I was signed up for this the moment your hand touched mine.”

“What?”

“Forget it,” Carmilla says, waving her hand. “Let’s do this, cutie. You and me.”

“I like the sound of that,” Laura says, smiling.

Laura Hollis has always placed stock in being a responsible and kind, but firm Pokémon trainer. She always thought herself to be the kind of person who would fight injustice when faced with it. She also has never believed in coincidence, so Laura Hollis walks down the steps back toward the Pokémon Center filled with a new sense of purpose: to do her part, small as it may be, to restore the heart of the art of Pokémon training.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm probably going to write more of this but who actually knows
> 
> come say hi at good-and-safe on tumblr and also ps i hate writing in the third person i haven't done it in FOREVER


End file.
